Re: "Smacking"

We need to clear up a few things here:

What consitutes "smacking"? A single "whop on the bottom", as was so eloquently mentioned above? A slap on the cheek, from the wrist? A beating with a belt? A full-arm-swing blow on the ear? Surely it's not meaningful to discuss the "statistical" quote above without knowing these things.

And, whatever that definition, then we have "parents who smacked"-- what does that mean in frequency terms? One incident in say thirteen years? (I wish I had that kind of reserve.) Occasional spankings with a hard hand? Daily beatings?

And what kind of teaching or admonishment went with the "smacking"? None at all? A soul-searching this-hurts-me-more-than-it-hurts-you talk, complete with sobs by the parent? A profane and/or belittling dressing-down?

And then the "recent survey": Who did it? What was the study plan? What were the qualifications of the surveyor?

The observation about the "statistics" of "smacking" and "going bad" is completely worthless.

Dave Oesterreich